FILM & CONCERT SERIES
Each year we host a film & concert series on Labor Day Weekend that highlights health equity initiatives in our community.
2024: LABOR OF LOVE
ABOUT THE CONCERT
KATIE RUSHING | Katie Rushing is a singer-songwriter. Her new album, ‘Sparrow’ includes original songs recorded at Beebe Gunn Studio in Houston, Texas. “Sparrow is a collection of songs that are non-fictional and fictional. They are story based, they are reality based. They are based on actual events as well as on feelings and ideas alone. Some of the words evolved from a tune and some of the tunes arrived after the story was written. The most beautiful thing music does is it takes flight and when it lands in the presence of someone else it creates a stir. It would be my greatest honor if this contribution does just that for you,” says Katie. She performs with the Palisades as well as Holden Rushing and the Greater Thans. She has had the honor of providing support in the studio with other acts like The Small Sounds and Allen Hill. Sparrow was engineered and mixed by Paul Beebe, mastered by Chris Longwood. Additional instrumentals by Paul Beebe with additional vocals by Paul Beebe, Jason Healy, and Holden Rushing. Learn more at katierushing.com.
DREW KENNEDY | Kennedy has long-since mastered the art of literary lines that evoke sharp images and strong emotions. As he sings, “The sky’s as wide as a smile on a waitress / at a late night, roadside cafe outside of Pecos” to kick off “Open Road,” West Texas skylines and the people who dot them are inimitably captured. All brimming toe-tapping keys and crisp cymbal crashes, “24 Hours in New York City” traces the exhilaration and possibility of young love, while “House” describes a home’s dismantling to heartbreaking perfection. Moody “Cream and Sugar” and driving “Jackson” are both straight-ahead pop smashes, and Kennedy’s vocals have never sounded better. Walt Wilkins’ gem “Walnut Street” makes for an ideal addition and marks Kennedy’s first-ever inclusion of a cover on one of his albums. Learn more at drewkennedymusic.com.
ABOUT THE VENUE
Located in the Central Business District at 2219 Market, the City National Bank building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1984) and recognized as one of the city’s most important early 20th-century buildings. It was gifted to Galveston Historical Foundation in 2020 and has been featured on the Galveston Historic Homes Tour.
ABOUT THE FILM
A Mexican-American teenager dreams of graduating high school, when increased ICE raids in her community threaten to separate her family and force her to become the breadwinner for her family. She works long days in the strawberry fields and the night shift at a food processing factory. Set in an agricultural town on the central coast of California, FRUITS OF LABOR is a coming of age story about an American teenager traversing the seen and unseen forces that keep her family trapped in poverty. A lyrical meditation on adolescence, nature and ancestral forces, the film asks, what does it mean to come into one’s power as a working young woman of color in the wealthiest nation in the world?
Join us for a film screening and song swap in the 1920 City National Bank Building this Labor Day weekend! This year's program brings awareness to the workers who put food on our Gulf Coast tables. The event kicks off with the film FRUITS OF LABOR at 5:30 p.m. and culminates with a concert by singer/songwriters Katie Rushing and Drew Kennedy at 7 p.m. Craft beer courtesy of Saint Arnold Brewing Company will be available for donation.
2023: WORKING ON THE WATER
Join us for our Working on the Water Film & Concert Series. This Labor Day event at the 1859 St. Joseph's Church brings awareness to the workers who put food on our Gulf Coast tables. The event will be kicked off with the film Seadrift at 5 pm and culminate with a concert by Singer/Songwriter Drew Kennedy at 7 pm. Attendees will have the opportunity to view photographs taken and poems written by waterfront workers and talk to experts and advocates who are working with workers to increase occupational health equity among an often hidden but essential workforce.
ABOUT THE VENUE
St. Joseph's Church is one of the oldest churches in Texas and was considered a parish for the working class. It was built by German immigrants and dedicated in 1860 to St. Joseph, the patron saint of laborers. Galveston Historical Foundation now operates the space as a venue, hosting notable performances by Iron & Wine, Ian Moore, & Joe Pug, among many others.
ABOUT THE FILM
In 1979, a Vietnamese refugee shoots and kills a white crab fisherman at the public town docks in Seadrift, TX. What began as a dispute over fishing territory erupts into violence and ignites a maelstrom of boat burnings, KKK intimidation, and other hostilities against Vietnamese refugees along the Gulf Coast. Set during the early days of Vietnamese arrival in the U.S., SEADRIFT is a feature documentary that examines the circumstances that led up to the shooting and its dramatic aftermath and reveals the unexpected consequences that continue to reverberate today.
ABOUT THE CONCERT
Kennedy has long-since mastered the art of literary lines that evoke sharp images and strong emotions. As he sings, “The sky’s as wide as a smile on a waitress / at a late night, roadside cafe outside of Pecos” to kick off “Open Road,” West Texas skylines and the people who dot them are inimitably captured. All brimming toe-tapping keys and crisp cymbal crashes, “24 Hours in New York City” traces the exhilaration and possibility of young love, while “House” describes a home’s dismantling to heartbreaking perfection. Moody “Cream and Sugar” and driving “Jackson” are both straight-ahead pop smashes, and Kennedy’s vocals have never sounded better. Walt Wilkins’ gem “Walnut Street” makes for an ideal addition and marks Kennedy’s first-ever inclusion of a cover on one of his albums. Learn more at drewkennedymusic.com.
2022: IDEAS SYMPOSIUM
Hosted by the Center for Violence Prevention, the symposium explored the unique power of science, art, and the humanities to reimagine social change. Held in the Old Red Amphitheater on April 28th, the Ideas Symposium: Examining Social Issues through the Sciences, Arts, and Humanities continued our theme of studying violence prevention through the lens of race/ethnicity, class, citizenship, identity, and gender. We discussed how debates ranging from gun and domestic violence to employment and reproductive rights are often inspired by the arts and how artists draw inspiration from the social sciences and humanities. This interdisciplinary symposium featured nationally recognized scholars, policymakers, artists, and musicians who came together to challenge traditionally held beliefs about violence & inspire creative avenues for advocacy.
ABOUT THE VENUE
The Old Red Medical Museum at UTMB, Galveston. A place to preserve and present, educate, foster research, and inspire medical learning for all. Featuring the medical heritage collections at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, the Old Red Medical Museum seeks to engage and inspire diverse audiences through stories, exhibitions, and research at the birthplace of Texas medicine.
ABOUT THE FILM
MAMA HAS A MUSTACHE is a short, quirky, fully animated documentary about gender and family, as seen through children’s eyes. Driven completely by audio interviews of kids ages 5-10, the film uses these sound bytes combined with clip-art and mixed media to explore how children are able to experience a world outside of the traditional gender binary.
ABOUT THE CONCERT
Magic happens when everything comes together like it’s supposed to — when the joys and the pain, the triumphs and the missteps all click into place to be seen for what they truly are. Waylon Payne’s Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me Is such a moment, the culmination of an extraordinary journey set to music. A son of country music royalty, a teenaged Baptist preacher turned addict and actor, Payne sings about fathers and sons, faith and addiction, recovery and renewal with devastating clarity. His character-rich collection harks back to a way of telling stories in song that revealed kept secrets and promised mystery. Over his years, Payne has felt the terrible power secrets can hold and learned the transformative value of releasing them. Finally, he’s in a place where he can harness that power to create transcendent work.
Payne released his first album in 2003 and launched an acting career that included portraying Jerry Lee Lewis in the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line and Nashville guitar legend Hank Garland in 2008’s Crazy. At the same time his career seemed to be coming together, though, a drug problem that had started in his teens was developing to a full-blown meth addiction that was ripping Payne’s life apart. Now eight years clean, Payne finally can put all the elements of his life in their proper place. Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me testifies to a decade-long journey, capturing songs and moments from his most troubled time, as well as the grace and the relationships that led him out of it.